Unhide attendee names in webinars

Question

This option is says it is locked in webinars but then it also says to use this setting, make someone a presenter then turn it on before the meeting starts.

Which is it and why can't we have the option to allow for attendee names during a webinar? That is desired for my organization. People want to know what colleagues are in the virtual room and who is posting in the chats. When everyone just shows up as attendee it looks odd and is not a good user experience.

Answer 1

Good day @White, Jennifer, and thank you for taking the time to raise this question. 

Based on how Microsoft Teams webinars currently work, the “Hide attendee names” setting is available, though in some environments it may appear unavailable to adjust. This usually depends on your organization’s setup, such as whether a Teams Premium license is in place for the organizer or how meeting policies are configured, including the -AttendeeIdentityMasking setting within CsTeamsMeetingPolicy. 

When the policy and licensing allow, the way to make attendee names visible is to turn off the “Hide attendee names” option under Participation before the webinar begins. With this setting turned off, attendee names are generally shown to all participants, unless an organizational policy applies a different default. 

You may find this article helpful for additional reference: Hide attendee names in Microsoft Teams meetings and webinars - Microsoft Support 

From what I understand, this behavior is part of the original webinar design, where sessions are optimized for larger audiences with an emphasis on privacy and focus. In this format, attendee names are hidden from other attendees by default, while organizers and presenters can still see them. This approach differs from standard meetings and aims to create a more structured webinar experience. The name‑visibility control is closely tied to Premium features that support attendee anonymity, and it applies broadly to the session.  

I truly appreciate you sharing how important name visibility is for your organization’s experience. As a forum moderator, I hope I can help clarify your questions as much as possible and point you toward any relevant resources that may be helpful, even though I’m not able to make changes to the product itself, as that falls outside of my role and scope.  

Thank you very much for your understanding. 

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Answer 2

In Teams webinars, attendee name visibility is controlled by the Hide attendee names setting, which is part of Teams Premium and must be configured before the webinar starts. Once saved, it cannot be changed for that webinar.

How it works today:

1. Hide attendee names is a one‑way, pre‑meeting option
   • When scheduling the webinar, go to Meeting options → Participation.
   • There is a Hide attendee names toggle.
   • The documentation states: “Choose to hide attendee names when initially scheduling a meeting or webinar. Once the meeting option is saved, it can't be changed later.”
2. Presenter requirement
   • To use Hide attendee names, Who can present cannot be set to Everyone.
   • Organizers must first set Who can present to something other than Everyone (for example, specific presenters), then turn on Hide attendee names before the meeting/webinar starts.
3. What attendees and organizers see
   • When Hide attendee names is turned on:
     • Attendees cannot see names or details of other attendees; they only see organizers and presenters.
     • Organizers, co‑organizers, and presenters still see attendee names and details.
   • When Hide attendee names is off:
     • Attendees can see each other’s names in the meeting UI as in a normal meeting/webinar.
4. Why the option appears locked
   • If the webinar is already scheduled and the option was saved, it cannot be changed afterward, so it appears locked.
   • If Who can present is set to Everyone, the product will not allow enabling Hide attendee names, which can also make the toggle appear unavailable.
5. Why there is no “unhide” during the webinar
   • The current design treats attendee name masking as a privacy and compliance feature: once a webinar is configured to hide names, that privacy guarantee is fixed for that event.
   • For the scenario where the organization wants everyone to see who is in the room and who is posting, the webinar must be scheduled with Hide attendee names turned off from the start.

To achieve the desired behavior (everyone sees who is in the virtual room and who is posting), schedule future webinars with Hide attendee names disabled and configure presenters as needed. If the toggle is locked or unavailable, verify that:

• The organizer has a Teams Premium license if using attendee name masking.
• Who can present is not set to Everyone when trying to enable masking; or leave masking off entirely if visibility is desired.

For changes to this behavior (for example, being able to switch between hidden and visible names mid‑webinar), feedback can be submitted through the Microsoft Teams feedback channels so it can be considered for future updates.

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References:

• Hide attendee names in Microsoft Teams meetings and webinars
• Meeting options in Microsoft Teams